Summary

Professors Nambisan and Nambisan present an innovative framework from which to view citizen “co-creation,” which refers to the development of new public services by citizens in partnership with governments. The authors present four roles that citizens can play in the co-creation of public services: explorer, ideator, designer, and diffuser, with examples of citizens playing each of these roles.

This report continues the IBM Center’s interest in the concept of public service co-creation and co-delivery. The report, Beyond Citizen Engagement: Involving the Public in Co-Delivering Government Services, by P.K. Kannan and Ai-Mei Chang, provided a guide for introducing and implementing a co-delivery initiative. Taken together, these two reports are on the forefront of increased insight into how governments can improve services through co-creation and co-delivery.

In their report, Professors Nambisan and Nambisan note that numerous forces are redefining citizen roles in the public sphere, “a shift from that of a passive service beneficiary to that of an active, informed partner or co-creator in public service innovation and problem-solving.“ The authors offer four strategies for government leaders who wish to encourage citizen co-creation.They are: